The Latest from Iran (7 March): The Elections Next Door

2225 GMT: Petraeus Pronounces. On a slowish political evening, General David Petraeus dishes out some rhetoric on Iran's "thugocracy". We'll have an analysis tomorrow (hint: it's actually a signal that US is backing off any immediate military pressure), but for now, we've posted the video.

1945 GMT: Larijani Watch. Nice move by the head of Iran's judiciary, Mohammad Sadegh Larijani. He has announced the discovery of a large group inside the Government carrying out fraud and economic corruption: one case alone was embezzlement of 6 bilionl Toman more than $6 million).

NEW Iran: Senior Reformist Amani “We Have Not Decided to Remain Silent”
UPDATED Death, Confusion, and Clerics in Iran: The Case of Mohammad Amin Valian
NEW An Open Letter to the Editors of Iran’s “Principled” Newspapers
The Latest from Iran (7 March): The Elections Next Door

Thus, Larijani takes a swipe at Ahmadinejad and poses as a a defender of justice for the Iranian people.


1930 GMT: Bypassing Sanctions. All the way back to our first update (0730 GMT) on "Western" firms who trade with Tehran: Welt Online has a lengthy article on German companies who use Dubai as a "back door" to get into Iran.

1900 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Madhi Forouzandehpour, who was in charge of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s office, has been released after more than two months in detention.

1750 GMT: The Uranium Enrichment Deal. Don't say EA didn't tell you....
A couple of weeks after the visit by Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani to Tokyo, this nugget from the Foreign Ministry:

Iran is ready to conduct its uranium exchange plan also with fresh countries, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Sunday, according to the Fars News Agency.

"As we have reached no results yet with France, Russia and the United States over the uranium exchange plan, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head has asked other countries to get involved," Mehmanparast said.

"We will wait and see whether other countries would be capable to provide us with the required fuel," the spokesman added in a meeting with students at the Shahid Beheshti university in Tehran.

Japan is reportedly one of the countries interested to get engaged in the deal.

1730 GMT: Political Prisoner/Mohareb Watch. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatababi announced that 250 Ashura detainees have been indicted, but he said reports of a confirmed death sentence for Mohammad Amin Valian were false.

1710 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Leading student activist Abdollah Momeni has reportedly been released on $800,000 bail.

1645 GMT: Karroubi Takes on Mohareb. It looks like Mehdi Karroubi may have another front in his battle against the regime over its conception of "justice". He told an audience today,

I have previously pointed out [the need for] changing the definition of Mohareb [warring against God] in the current situation and have asked judiciary officials for its abolition....Some officials, unpremeditatedly or premeditatedly and even intentionally, called the streets protests and movements Moharebeh, and this is unfortunate.

Karroubi referred to the case of Mohammad Amin Valian, the Ashura protester condemned to death, as a “negative point” since Valian was only “taking part in street protests.” Karroubi claimed that Iranian officials "don’t know that Iran’s reputation in the international community is tarnished with such acts”.

1640 GMT: On the Women's Front. The Iranian Labor News Agency dares to proclaim, on the eve of International Women's Day, that "statistics and recent events in Iran indicate Iranian women did not experience an enjoyable year".

1630 GMT: That Cyber-War Thing. Following the declaration of Iranian officials that the Green Movement will be "crushed" in the battle of the Internet, an Islamic Revolution Guard Corps commander has said that 18,000 IRGC troops will be deployed in the "cyber-war".

1615 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amirhossein Kazemi, weblog writer and member of the Freedom Movement of Iran, was arrested last night after being summoned to the Intelligence Ministry and taken to an unknown location. Emad Behavar, the head of the youth branch and member of the political bureau of the FMI, has been arrested for the third time in the post-election crisis.

Many of the FMI's leaders have been detained.

1200 GMT: We've posted an interview with a senior reformist, Shahrbanou Amani, considering the state of the Green Movement: "We Have Not Decided to Remain Silent".

1000 GMT: Posture of the Day. The Iranian Government, represented by Minister of Defense Ahmad Vahidi, is boasting of a new domestically-manufactured short-range cruise missile that can "eliminate targets of up to 300 tons".

0800 GMT: Butterfly on a Wheel. Golshifteh Farahani, the first Iranian actress since 1979 to appear in a major Hollywood film, has spoken of the oppression of Iran's artists by the current regime.

After her appearance in Body of Lies with Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe, Farahani was harassed by Iranian intelligence services for months before she went into exile in Paris.

Reacting to the arrest of award-winning director Jafar Panahi last week, Farahani said, "We are so angry. Jafar is one, maybe the only one… still in Iran who is talking. Most artists [in Iran] don't talk because they would rather work somehow. I appreciate that, but Jafar is the one who had the courage to talk, and he talked for everyone."

0755 GMT: A Government's Satanic Aims. Former President Mohammad Khatami has delcared in a speech:

It is a catastrophe that satanic aims and inhuman methods are imposed on the people in the name of God and holiness. Peace is the most beautiful word that exists, but unfortunately we see rare examples in the historical reality (today).

0750 GMT: Here's Some Culture for You. Former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi has declared at a conference that Iran's "cyber-army" will reach "greater achievements", crushing the Green Movement.

0730 GMT: Nine months after Iran's Presidential election, media attention --- including that of Iranian outlets --- will be focused on a vote next door, as Iraqis go to the polls. We'll be starting our Iran morning in a reflective mood, with a senior reformist politician, Shahrbanou Amani, considering the state of the movement: "We have not decided to remain silent."

Anticipating US legislating punishing firms who trade both with the American Government and with Iran, The New York Times has published a list of 74 companies who could have been affected. Heading the list is Halliburton, the oil and gas drilling services firm connected with former Vice President Dick Cheney, at $27.1 billion. (Like a number of others on the list, Halliburton has now officially withdrawn from Iran.)

Comments

[Catherine]

More postures. These rank as the most hypocritical postures of the last 24 hours, I believe.

Iran warned Italy on Saturday it may retaliate in kind over Rome's detention of an Iranian journalist.
"If the Italian government wants to treat our media colleague this way to gratify the cruel wishes of the United States, Britain and Israel, it will certainly see a reciprocal effect on its media people by the government of Iran," IRIB quoted senior official Mohammad Ali Ramin as saying.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100306/wl_nm/us_iran_italy_journalist_1

Italy better take this warning seriously, given how this regime treats its *own* media people to begin with.

Iran warns of Italy's 'Mafia-style' approach to N-issue
In statement released on Friday, Abbas Darvish-Tavangar, head of the Association of Iranian Journalists and Reporters, said the arrest of TV correspondent Hamid Masoumi-Nejad (on charges of smuggling weapons to Iran in defiance of international sanctions) shows more than ever that the Mafia has infiltrated into the high ranks of the Italian government and justice department.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120170&sectionid=351020101 (who else?)

No comment necessary.

And last but certainly not least, we have the declaration of love for all humanity made by the very head of government himself, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as a definition of his county's foreign policy. Speaking at a summit held for Iranian ambassadors to foreign countries on Wednesday, Ahmadinejad stated, “Even when the side opposing our country is in a position of weakness, we have no right to unjustly enforce anything upon them. In foreign policy, honesty, justice and respect towards all humans should be paid attention to. The Islamic Republic has no right to act unlawfully even against its enemies”, and that Iran’s foreign policy should be “based on love and friendship between peoples”.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/mar/05/1388

Too bad none of this applies to the people of Iran.

[ange paris]

"The political decline of iranian mollahs has begun" !
http://www.iranfocus.com/fr/presse-internationale/irak-le-recul-politique-des-mollahs-iraniens-a-commence-07797.html
During the previous parlmentary elections in Irak in 2005, this country was the first country in arab world with a shiite majority, which angered all its arab neighbors; five years later, shiites have lost their energy and solidarity; Nouri al-Maliki, , the outgoing PM has his own list, and his former allies, Ibrahim al-Jaafari et Amar al-Hakim, are with Moqtada al-Sadr ; the list of the latters comes in third position in the polls after Maliki's and Allaoui's ; the shiite religious have lost their "aura";
Voters knows whom they are , they speak about religion and hidden imam, but in fact they are intressted in oil and power !
It's said that, In Irak, Ayatollah Sistani, the only Marja in Irak, iranian origin and muslim shiite, is the only one to guide country toward a democratic system; he has lived in Najaf, defending a doctrine completely different compare to Khomeyni's one and against "velayate faghih"; He secretly asked americans to organise the parlementary elections and a referendum and has always refused as to entering in a political game as supporting any party during the elections even the one led by shiite, Moqtada al-Sadr ;
The slogan of Ayatollah Sistani : " religion should not get involved in politic" .

[ange paris]

Scott
my comment is in trap again !

[Arshama]

Catherine,

@ Arms smuggling in Italy

Corriere della Serra reports that "Iranian nucleus rounded up in Italy reportedly part of larger network" http://www.facebook.com/pages/IRAN/18297877889

Also @ 1730 GMT: Political Prisoner/Mohareb Watch

Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, chief of Department of Corrections, said at a conference that "the events of Kahrizak were rather due to negligence"! http://www.asriran.com/fa/pages/?cid=103090

Where, if not in this holy republic, torturing four young men to death would be labelled as an "act of negligence"?

Esmaili also reported that actually a total of 175.000 persons are imprisoned, 48% of them being related to drug abuse. Instead of implementing aid programmes, the poor jobless are locked up in jail. After all no one wants to bother the IRGC drug mafia: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-03-01-the-pasdaran-is-iran

[kevina]

On the election laws, Verbrugge piece.

[ange paris]

Kevina
Your link doesn't work .

[Megan]

1750 GMT: "The Uranium Enrichment Deal. Don’t say EA didn’t tell you…."

Deal with Japan is another IR hot-air balloon that will burst soon.

[Scott Lucas]

Megan,

The deal is a long way from being sealed, but I do think Larijani and Co. are serious about this. Either through getting a deal or holding out the prospect of one, they out-flank Ahmadinejad....

S.

[Catherine]

That uranium offer from Japan has been a long time in the works, apparently first floated last December - with US approval - during a visit to Tokyo by Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, as reported by the Nikkei Daily.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3853864,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100225/wl_asia_afp/irannuclearpoliticsjapan
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1151984.html
and many others

First we were holding out for a deal brokered by Turkey. Now that that has fizzled out, it's Japan. Look out for Brazil to be next. When that falls through - it'll be Chavez to the rescue! :-)
(If he's still alive. According to our Venezuelan cleaning lady at work, he suffers from a strange illness and his imminent death is being predicted even more often than Khamenei's!)

[Catherine]

@ Arshama RE post 3: Where, if not in this holy republic, torturing four young men to death would be labelled as an “act of negligence”?

Maybe it was a case of "the right hand not knowing what the left was doing"? ;-) - you must have some similar saying in Persian.

[Arshama]

Catherine,

Hmm, you are in fact absolutely right, or to put it in terms of this holy republic: actually the Kahrizak case is investigated by 3 different entities, mainly by the judiciary of the armed forces, and to a lesser extent by a commission of government employees and the security judges court (dadsaraye entezamiye qozat). Which means that three different organisations are struggling to put the blame on each other, coming to the conclusion that the deaths were the result of a series of misapprehensions, i.e. leading to nowhere. Their usual game called "ki bud, ki bud? man nabudam?" (Who was it? It wasn't me ;-)

My only hope is that Rezaie is influential enough to push the investigations until the real culprits are found. On the other hand Saeed Mortazavi as the main known culprit has got a promotion to the office for smuggling...

سه بخش است كه بخش اصلي آن در سازمان قضايي نيروهاي مسلح، بخشي در مجمع كاركنان دولت و بخش ديگر از پرونده در دادسرا انتظامي قضات در حال رسيدگي است.

[Catherine]

Arshama,
And check out who apparently is making nice with Mortazavi these days. Is there something to this or is it just more disinformation from the usual suspects?

"A cordial encounter and exchange of pleasantries between opposition cleric Mehdi Karroubi and Judge Saeed Mortazavi surprised attendees of a memorial ceremony in Tehran.

On Saturday afternoon, Karroubi and Mortazavi attended a memorial service held in the Nour Mosque in Tehran's Fatemi Square. Those present were extremely surprised to see Karroubi and Mortazavi kiss and warmly exchange pleasantries."

In an open letter not too long ago, Mehdi Karroubi accused the Islamic Republic of failing to take appropriate precautions to prevent jail rapes and the [kind of] atrocities that took place in the substandard Kahrizak Detention Center.

The Majlis truth-finding committee concluded its report by naming Mortazavi as the main suspect in the Kahrizak case.

http://www.tabnak.ir/fa/pages/?cid=89173